The Irresponsibility Problem

As a teacher, I feel that I often get a glimpse into some of the darker problems of our society. I'm sure this is also a common occurrence if you are employed in, say, the medical field or law enforcement. In fact, probably any job allows you to see the bad sides to people (I can think of a few gruesome incidents when I was employed as a housekeeper over the years...for more on that, you can check out my old blog here: http://housekeepersrant-sarah.blogspot.com/) along with the good. With teaching, you certainly see different things than with housekeeping (and for that I must say, thank God!), but the problems you witness can be upsetting just the same.
Over the years, teachers have seen their fair share of Huckleberry Finns and Tom Sawyers, so being a slacker is certainly not a recent devolution. Still, it's rough when you find students who sport a complete and utter lack of motivation. Of course, this isn't necessarily a large percentage of my students, but it does seem larger than it should be. I will also add that this is one of the first generations that have parents who see slackerdom as acceptable behavior. Take a look at 1960's classic television. When the kids mess up, the parents lecture, educate, and/or swat the troublemakers. The kids realize they need to get their act together, and things go back to normal. What do we see on television nowadays? Besides a ridiculous amount of risque behavior, we see everyone, from kids to the elderly, behaving badly and getting away with it, even being applauded for it! This sort of "applaud the evildoer" mentality is not only a common occurrence in sitcoms nowadays, but also in reality TV and even the news! It's terrifying, quite frankly, but I digress...


Now, I don't think that our society is doomed or that modern television is evil. I do, however, believe that a good chunk of our society has in fact hit rock bottom, and, for whatever reason, they don't realize it. Or maybe they just don't care. From a teacher standpoint, these are the kids who come to school without a clue. They haven't done their homework, they text and chat all through class, and they make snide remarks to everybody and anybody. Their hobbies include playing video games for hours straight, posting a zillion selfies on Instagram and Facebook, or (even worse) getting involved in drugs/alcohol/other stupid stuff. No, I didn't have my life planned out by high school, and I certainly wasn't perfect, but I at least had some semblance of an idea that I wanted to have opportunities and be successful later on. That meant I was working (and, sure, occasionally playing) hard- studying hard, working an after school/weekend job, participating in school sports and activities, being active with my friends and family, being outdoors, and basically enjoying life. I ask some of these kids what they want to do after high school and the answers make me want to yank out my hair: "I'll just live at home, my parents don't care", "I'll probably, you know, play video games, hang out, whatever", "I'll stick with my job at McDonald's; all my friends work there", and a common one, even for my seniors: "I don't know- what does it matter?" What does it matter, indeed?
Where is this attitude coming from, and why is it becoming more and more acceptable? It's not just the kids; their parents are to blame, too. I'd prefer not to disclose the times I've heard parents telling their kids (or insinuating) that school doesn't matter. Some of these are the people that I see aimlessly wandering Wal-Mart at 2pm on a Tuesday wearing their pajamas. What do these people do? And what message are they sending their children? The saddest part about this situation is that we live in a truly incredible and fortunate nation, where people with motivation and solid work ethics can accomplish really amazing feats, regardless of the difficulties they face. Success isn't guaranteed, but the chance to work hard and try your best is free for the taking (which can't be said of every place around the globe). Unfortunately, these kids, without the right encouragement, might not ever realize their true potential or even the fact that they have one. It's depressing.

That's why I am constantly encouraging my students, and the ones who come from rougher situations need this encouragement even more. And when the parents shrug off a meeting, a deadline, and due date, telling their kids that it's okay to do the same, I come back with, "No, actually, it's not, because you need to be prepared for the future. Jobs have deadlines and requirements, and this is your foundation." Everyone comes with a backstory- some lives are tougher than others; it's just the hard, honest fact- but if the option is to cry about it and waste away or to dust yourself off and show life where to shove it, I personally would take the latter- and I hope my students do, too.